BIBLICAL CONCORDANCES. - Collections, arranged in alphabetical order, of the various words or ideas in the Bible. The individual words or ideas are presented in their immediate context, with an indication of the book, chapter, and verse in which they occur. The former are called "verbal" concordances, the latter "real" concordances. Verbal concordances are a valuable means of locating the precise citation of a thought or episode remembered only vaguely. Real concordances present to the reader, in an organized and complete form, all the fundamental ideas or those of particular importance in the Bible.
The first verbal concordances arose in the 13th century based on the Latin Vulgate text. Hugh of Saint-Cher (c. 1230) is considered their first inventor. However, the concordance of Hugh of Saint-Victor (begun in 1263) also appeared around the same period. The first, later revised, was printed in 1475 in Strasbourg, while the second did not appear until 1606 in Antwerp, BREUGHEL (v.). Among other concordances, mention should be made of that by Gaspar de Zamora (Rome 1627), those by the Benedictines of Wessobrunn (Augsburg 1751), by F. P. Dutrop (Paris 1838), by H. de Raze, E. de Lachaud, and J. Flandrin (Paris-Lyon 1852), continuously reprinted to this day, by G. Tonini (Prato 1861), by M. Bechis (Turin 1887-88), by V. Cornaert (Regensburg 1897), and by E. Peutler, L. Etienne, and L. Gantois (Paris 1897, reprint 1939).
Among Hebrew concordances, mention should be made of that by Isaac Nathan (1437-45), first printed in Venice in 1523, that by the Capuchin Mario de Calasio (Rome 1621), that by the Protestant G. Buxtorf the Elder (Basel 1632), and that by the Jew S. Mandelkern (Leipzig 1896-1900; minor edition, ibid. 1900).
Among Greek concordances for the Old Testament, the excellent one by the Anglicans E. Hatch and H. A. Redpath (Oxford 1892-97; supplement 1900-1906) stands out. For the New Testament, the manual by O. Smoller (Gütersloh 1869; 7th ed. by A. Smoller, Stuttgart 1938) is excellent, while more complete are those by C. H. Bruder (Leipzig 1842) and by W. F. Moulton and A. S. Geden (Edinburgh 1897).
There are also concordances in modern languages, especially English, German, French, and Swedish, generally works by Protestants.
The first compiler of real concordances was St. Anthony of Padua, whose work was printed only in 1624, with purely oratorical aims. Still in use is the *Thesaurus biblicus* by Ph. P. Merz (Augsburg 1733), often reprinted. More scientific in intent are the concordances by G. F. Allot (Antwerp 1577), by A. Calmet (Paris 1722), by G. Vespasiano (Venice 1858), and the more modern dictionaries by F.-G. Vigouroux (v.), by M. Hagen (v.), and by E. Kalt (Paderborn 1931). Finally, mention should be made of various biblical encyclopedias.